Goodbye, World!
Oh, hey! Elizabeth Stock here. As I move through my final week, I have been searching for the words to express what this transition means to me. Since I can’t seem to come up with a “polished” way of doing this, I will do what I usually do: lead with vulnerability.
Stepping down from my role as Executive Director of PDXWIT after four years is bringing up a lot of feelings that seem to be in opposition to each other (you should see my recently used Emojis right now, I’m all over the place!). I feel both happy and sad. I feel peaceful and guilty. I feel confident and anxious. Exhausted and energized. One feeling that overrides them all, however, is gratitude.
I am filled to the brim with appreciation. Appreciation for Megan Bigelow and the founding board who built this movement. Appreciation for those I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside and learn from, including our dedicated board and staff. Appreciation for the most incredible group of volunteers–many of whom have been on the PDXWIT team for far longer than I have. Appreciation for companies who are engaging in the long and often uncomfortable work that goes along with prioritizing equity and inclusion. And appreciation for you, the PDXWIT community.
I attended my first PDXWIT event well before I joined the organization as an employee. I almost didn’t go because I was worried I would feel out of place since I wouldn’t know anyone. Within minutes of arriving, I was approached by welcoming volunteers and community members that have now become lifelong friends. I experienced first hand the impact that PDXWIT has made across an industry that can often feel isolating and difficult to navigate.
Leading PDXWIT for the last four years has been the honor and privilege of my career. I feel incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to do together, and I know this is just the beginning of what is possible for the organization.
I am BEYOND grateful that Rihana Mungin has offered to step in as Interim Executive Director. Rihana is a long-time PDXWIT board member and is responsible for so much of the progress, internally and externally, PDXWIT has made over the last few years. I truly couldn’t have imagined a better person to lead this organization during the Executive Director search.
So… Goodbye, World! But not really. I would say it's much more of a “See ya soon, World.” You will absolutely be able to find me at PDXWIT happenings cheering this organization and community on.
From my lime green heart to yours, thank you.
💚 Elizabeth 💚
Elizabeth Stock and Rihana Mungin at the 2019 Portland Pride Parade
Hello, World!
Hello, World! This is Rihana, interim Executive Director at PDXWIT. I am energized by this organization and excited to support the community throughout this transition. PDXWIT has a strong foundation thanks to the expertise of our amazing PDXWIT team, our dedicated volunteers, the PDXWIT board of directors and of course, Elizabeth.
As Elizabeth closes out her chapter with PDXWIT, I wanted to highlight some of the contributions she has made that we are most proud of. Anyone who has met Elizabeth will know her impact goes far beyond this list, but since this is a blog post and not a book we somehow managed to get it down to five key contributions:
Within her first six months, Elizabeth stabilized the PDXWIT budget. She expanded the number of corporate sponsorships, fostered partnerships, and pursued grants as a form of expanding our programming. Over the course of her tenure, she increased PDXWIT’s operating budget five-fold. This allowed PDXWIT to bring on additional staff, expand existing programs, and ensure the organization’s activities were sustainable.
While PDXWIT was having a meaningful impact on many lives, there were folks that were being excluded. More than just noticing it, Elizabeth listened to the community members who raised these concerns, and with the support of the rest of the team decided to do something about it. Today, we strive for intersectionality in everything we do, and are in a constant state of self-examination to ensure those most marginalized in the tech industry are centered.
Do you also remember how PDXWIT didn’t miss a beat at the start of the pandemic? With Elizabeth’s leadership, the organization managed to pivot to a virtual programming model almost instantly. PDXWIT evolved in real time to ensure that the community was still getting what it needed, especially during such a collectively difficult time. Not only that, PDXWIT was able to support other organizations in our community in their transition to a more virtual world.
In 2021, Elizabeth led the team in a transformative process of rethinking the goals of PDXWIT. Despite the ‘W’ in PDXWIT, we were more than Portland Women in Technology. The original mission statement didn’t align with the comprehensive work PDXWIT has been doing, and so Elizabeth led the process of updating our mission statement. We support a broader community of those not represented in tech - and we do that by building a better tech industry by creating access, dismantling inequities and fueling belonging.
When Elizabeth started at PDXWIT, the organization had three programs: mentorship, the job board, and events. During her tenure, those existing programs grew, and new programs including the scholarship fund, speakers bureau, and podcast were launched.
What’s next? We are looking for an executive director to continue propelling us into the future. Are you interested in applying? Know someone who might be? Please help us spread the word far and wide!